Infinte Stratos: The Mecha Gene
by SpyGlassGear
Summary: After defeating the Silver Gospel, Ichika and his friends return to their normal lives. But when school starts up for the new semester, there are a few surprises waiting for them. One of them being a new student. Everything seams fine, until a phantom IS unit starts causing havoc and destruction all over Japan. Who is behind behind this? And what do they want with Ichika?


**The New Student**

It had been almost a month since the incident involving the rouge IS unit. Ichika and his friends had returned to their normal school routines just in time for the end of the semester. And now, with the end of their vacation coming to a close, they all returned to the school to prepare for the upcoming semester. Students were gathering in the courtyards and hallways, meeting up with old friends and sharing stories about their vacations. School wasn't supposed to start back up for another two days, but already most of the students had come back.

Ichika walked towards the dorm rooms with a suitcase in one hand. He was average height for someone his age, with short spiky hair. His older sister had returned to school a few days before him, so he walked alone. But not for long. Soon after he entered the building, he was swarmed by dozens of girls.

"How was your vacation Ichika?"

"Did you have a good time?"

"I always thought of you."

"You were amazing when you fought that rouge IS last semester."

"I baked you some cookies at my family's sweets shop over break."

With every passing second, more and more girls swarmed around him, and battling for his attention. During the break, Ichika had forgotten what it was like to be the only man to be able to pilot an IS, and attend IS Academy. Just then, he heard a familiar voice.

"Ichika darling. Is that you?" Someone shouted from across the room in a British accent.

"Hi Cecilia," he replied with some effort, "How was your vacation?"

"Simply dreadful without you," she replied. "I went to go visit one of my family's ocean side villas, and was simply board there without you. The staff there were able to keep away some of the loneliness with their company, but it wasn't the same.

"I'm sorry to hear that. It sounds like a nice place though."

"If you want, we can go there for our honeymoon!" she said with glee.

"Like he'll want to marry you. He'll end up having to clean up all of your messes. Especially the ones in the kitchen," a slightly squeaky voice piped up with a Chinese accent.

"Good morning Rin." Ichika grunted again, now trying to make his way out of the cage of fan girls he had now found himself entombed.

"What are you talking about? My cooking is to die for!" Cecilia replied.

"Your right. Because it kills anyone who eat it. Remember when everyone just 'happened' to find themselves at Ichika's house over break, and we all helped cook dinner. You cooked a bomb!"

"Thank you for the complement."

"IT LITERALLY BLEW UP IN THE POT!" Rin shouted.

"That's not my fault. Some of the ingredients must have been spoiled." Cecilia said in her proudest voice possible.

"We had just gone grocery shopping ten minuets beforehand!"

"Then they weren't properly kept at the store." Rin looked like she was about blow a fuse.

"Um, I don't mean to interrupt you two, but could you please give me a hand over hear." Ichika said with his last breath just before he was glomped to death. Just then though, the arm of a gray IS unit swooped down, grabbed Ichika, and lifted him up and out of reach of the other girls. He turned to see himself staring into the face of Laura. She had fully activated her IS unit in order to get him out, and it was amazing to see that it just barely fit within the confines of the hall.

"Guten tag wife." She said. This got everyone in the room to stop what they were doing and stair straight at the two of them.

"WHAT!?" They all shouted in unison.

"I really wish you wouldn't call me that Laura. You know were not married."

"Phew.

"Yet." She replied.

"Grrrrrrrr." Just then, Orimura Sensei came running into the room.

"What the hell is going on in here!? All you girls, go to your rooms! Ms. Laura, put down Ichika and deactivate your IS! Ms. Cecilia and Ms. Rin, stop arguing between yourselves this instant! Everyone did as Orimura Sensei said as quickly as possible. Laura dropped Ichika though, making him land on his tail bone instead of his feet. Orimura Sensei walked over to him and helped him stand up.

"Not five minuets into the new semester and your already making trouble for yourself, aren't you." She said. Orimura was Ichika's older sister. But even so, she was no more the an inch taller than him.

"Sorry about that sis." he said wiping the dirt from his uniform.

"What did I tell you about calling me sis at school!" She said as she hit him on his head with the book she was caring.

"Ow. Sorry Sensei.

"Good. Now I think it would be wise of you to go to your room and start unpacking. I won't be around again anytime soon."

"What are you talking about? Are you going on a trip?" He asked sounding puzzled.

Orimura just shook her head. "No, never mind. Just go to your dorm." She said with a smirk.

"Okay. Thanks again for the help." He turned, picked up his suitcase, and walked towards the stairs.

"Oh, Ichika," Cecilia shouted before he got too far. "Would you like to join me for dinner tonight?"

"Sure, that sounds like fun. Why don't we invite the others as well? I can't wait to catch up with all of you."

"Sure. That sounds like, fun." Cecilia replied a little disappointed.

Ichika arrived at his room and heard noises coming from inside.

Charlotte must have just arrived also, he thought to himself. He opened the door and walked in.

"Hello Char. How was your..."

"Ichika! W..What are you doing!" Charlotte shouted. Ichika then noticed the towel wrapped around her body.

"S..S..Sorry for the intrusion!" He said as he closed his eyes, bowed his head, and backed out of the room, closing the door behind him. For a good part of the first semester, Charlotte had been disguised as a boy in the school, and paired as Ichika's roommate for that reason. He had gotten so use to her as a boy, that it slipped his mind every now and then that she was a girl. About a minuet later, Charlotte shouted from the other side of the door, saying it was okay for him to enter.

"Sorry about that Char. I guess I still forget you're a girl sometimes."

"It's okay Ichika. I should have been a little more careful. And besides, it was only you, so it's no big deal." She said, her face slightly red. Ichika noticed this.

"You know, maybe you should take a colder shower next time. Your face is a little red." As Ichika walked in, he noticed an opened letter sitting on one of the desks in the room.

"Are you getting mail from home already?"

"What?" Charlotte asked.

"That letter, is it a letter form home?"

"No, it's the letter regarding new room assignments."

"New room assignments? When did this happen."

"Over the break, everyone was supposed to get one of these letters telling them where they would be staying for the new semester. Everyone is suppose to pack any belongings they left in their room so we can make the move after dinner. Didn't you get one?"

"No, but maybe my sister knows something about it, I'll go ask her."

"Oh yah, the room switch." Ichika had found his sister at her desk in the teacher's office working on some class assignments. "I guess I forgot to give it to you earlier. I accidentally picked it up the other day and forgot to give it to you. Here you go." She turned around in her chair after pulling an envelope out of one of her desk draws and handed it to Ichika.

"Thanks sis." He said with a sigh.

"What did you call me!?"

"Sorry. Thanks Sensei." As he walked down the hall, he opened the letter to see what it said.

Dear IS Academy Student,

With a new semester comes new change. Following dinner on the first day back to school, everyone will be reassigned to a new room with a new room mate. This will give you the chance to meet new people and make new friends. When you arrive in your old room, please pack up any of your belongings you left in your room at the end of the semester and be ready to move out. Listed below is your new room number that was selected for you at random. Enjoy your new semester.

Sincerely,

IS Academy.

Ichika looked down at the room number listed, and found to his surprise, he would be staying in his old room. That was a real coincidence, this meant he didn't have anything to do until dinner, and since everyone else would be packing up their things for the move, he decided to head back to his room and have one last chat with Charlotte before she moved out. On his way up the stairs, he ended up running into Shinonono.

"Oh, Shinonono, how was your vacation?"

"Not bad. Other than the festival we went to, I just visited with family members that I haven't seen in a while."

"Well that doesn't sound so bad."

"For the most part, it wasn't. But my Grandma kept asking me a lot of questions."

"Like what?"

Shinonono's face went bright red. "Uh...well...l..like..how I'm doing in school! Yah!"

"Oh. Well that doesn't sound so bad."

"Ehh. Yah." Shinonono said adverting her eyes.

"So are you all packed for the move?" Ichika asked.

"Yah, I just finished. What about you?"

"As it turns out, I don't need to pack. I've been assigned to the same room."

"What! That's not fair! There has to be some kind of mistake!" Shinonono said with frustration.

"Well the letter did say they were randomly picked. So I might not be the only one."

"'Yah, but my new room is no where near yours."

"Why are you disappointed? When we were sharing a room, you almost killed me the first time I walked in."

"Yah, but I wouldn't have minded being at least next door to you." Shinonono said under her breath.

"Did you say something?"

"No no no, nothing at all. I'm going to go and make sure I didn't forget anything. I'll see you for dinner Ichika." And with that, Shinonono ran back up the stairs to her room, leaving Ichika slightly bewildered.

When Ichika reached his room, he knocked and waited for a reply from Charlotte this time. After he heard, he opened the door and walked in. He found Charlotte laying on her bed looking up ad the ceiling.

"Is something the matter Char?"

"No, nothing much. It's just a little hard to say good bye you know?"

"What are you talking about? Were not saying good bye, your just moving to a different room. Well still see each other in school."

"No, I mean good bye to all the memories we, I mean, that I have made here."

"Okay. You have a point there. To be honest, I'm going to miss you to."

"You mean it Ichika!" Charlotte said with a new since of hope.

"Sure. Ever since you came here dressed as a guy, you've been much easier to talk to then most of the people here."

"Oh." She replied, hanging her head and feeling slightly rejected.

Ichika saw she was feeling sad again, "Don't worry, I'll come and visit every now and then to see how your doing."

"Really!?"

"Sure, what else are friends for?"

"Okay Ichika." She said with a little chuckle.

After talking for a little while longer, Charlotte and Ichika put on their uniforms and headed down for dinner. After standing in line and getting their food, Ichika found himself being flagged down by Cecilia.

"Ichika darling, I saved you a seat over here with me."

"Hi Cecilia. Thanks for saving us seats. It looks like everywhere else is already full."

"Sure thing. Here, come sit next to me," she said as she pointed to one of the chairs. Charlotte quickly sat down in it. "Hey, Ichika was supposed to sit there! Oh well, you can sit in the other one." But when she turned around, she saw Rin was already sitting there.

"Hey, why did you sit there!?"

"This seat was open. Everywhere else is full."

"But Ichika was going to sit there!"

"It's okay Cecilia, I can sit here," he said as he sat down in the chair across from her.

"Well, I suppose that's okay." And she took her seat.

"You know you guys are really loud. We could hear you from the other side of the dining hall," Shinonono said as she and Laura appeared and took the last two remaining seats at the table.

"So, is everyone all packed and ready for the move after dinner?" They had all just started eating when Orimura Sensei appeared. Everyone nodded. "Good. Laura, if I remember correctly, you're rooming with Ichika this time. Make sure he stays on schedule."

"Ja wohl." Laura replied with a little salute.

"Wait a minuet," Rin shouted as she jumped up from her chair, "Laura is rooming with Ichika this semester! That's not fair!"

"The room assignments were randomly selected as stated in your letters," Orimura Sensei replied.

"But she'll climb into his bed every night like she did last time!" Charlotte joined in.

"Ichika doesn't deserve a roughen like her for a room mate. He deserves someone with more class and refinement! Like myself." Cecilia shouted.

"Well, there is still a little time left for people to ask for a different room. Ichika, do you have a preference as to who you share a room with?"

"To be honest, I don't really care who stays with me. Having Laura is fine."

"No its not," said Shinonono, "I'll be your room mate. This way you won't get into any trouble."

"Hey," shouted Rin, "why do you get to decide who his room mate is?"

"Because I'm his childhood friend."

"So am I!"

"Hey, don't I get a say in zies. After all, I am zie one moving into his room." Laura stated.

"No!" Everyone shouted before returning to their argument.

Orimura looked like she was about to snap. And a few seconds later, she did.

"That's enough!" She shouted looming above the others and making them cower a little. "If you people can't come to some agreement as to where you'll be sleeping, than I'll move you into new rooms myself, and have Charlotte say with Ichika."

"NO, NOT THAT!" Ichika was suddenly aware of what was going on. The argument that had started had become so loud, that the entire dinning hall was able to hear every detail. When Orimura Sensei had said that she would leave Charlotte with Ichika, for some reason, the rest of the girls didn't like this idea.

"I'll stay with Ichika," one girl said standing up.

"No, I will," another said.

"I will."

"So will I."

"Me too."

Eventually, everyone in the entire dinning hall said they would stay with Ichika, and the argument became even louder. It took Orimura Sensei, along with several other teachers at least five minuets to quiet everyone down and back in their seats. After that, she said that it would be Cecilia who would be staying with Ichika, seeing as she got the least amount of objections from the group. The rest of dinner was eaten in silence. Mostly because everyone was sad that they weren't going to be sharing a room with Ichika. But also because no one wanted Orimura Sensei to come back in.

After dinner, everyone went back to their dorms to start moving. Ichika helped Charlotte carry her thing to her new room, since he didn't have to move his things. Her new room ended up being at the other end of the hallway, so there wasn't much of a distance that they had to travel.

"Hey Charlotte, where do you want these books?"

"Oh. If you could set them down in the corner over there for the moment, that would be fine for now." Ichika was relieved to set them down. His shoulders were starting to hurt from all the loads. How had one girl managed to fit all this stuff into her half of the room he found himself wondering? As he walked out into the hall to go back to his room, he ended up running into a large box, knocking it to the ground. All of the clothes that were stuffed into it burst out and spilled onto the floor.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Ichika looked over to see Shinonono sitting on the floor with her clothes thrown all over her. When she saw who it was, she turned a little red and started shoving her clothes back into the box.

"Sorry about that Shinonono, I didn't see you there. Is your new room around here?"

"Yes. You're standing in front of it. What were you doing in there any way?"

"I was helping Charlotte move in. It looks like she'll be your new room mate." He said as he helped her pick up her clothes. Shinonono looked up to see Charlotte sticking her head out of the bedroom door. She couldn't figure out if this was a good thing, or a bad thing. After all the clothes were back into the box, Ichika helped her move it into the room, then went back to his. He had offered to help Shinonono move her things, but she said she was fine and didn't need any help.

Ichika flopped onto his bed. He was tired. He hadn't felt this sleepy since his first day of IS training. He was just about to doze off when the door to his room burst open.

"Ichika darling! I'm so glad we get to spend some quality time together. Thank you so much for letting me stay with you," Cecilia said as she burst into the room.

"It's wasn't really my choice you know. It was everyone else who decided." He said stiffly getting up.

"True, but still. Oh my, you don't look so good."

"Just a little sore from helping Charlotte more into her new room. It's no big deal."

"No big deal," she said with a gasp. "It most certainly is a big deal. What would have happened if you fell and had gotten seriously injured? I don't know what I would do if I let something like that happen to you." She added a little sob for theatrical affect. Ichika didn't seam fazed.

"Uhhh, okay. So, do you need any help moving your things?"

"Nope, all taken care of. Oh boys." She clapped her hands and in an instant, four large men, each carrying a box or two, walked into the room, set them down, and left just as quickly. Ichika just sat in stunned silence. "My sponsors hired them to help me move my things," she said with a smile.

"Alright," Ichika said, and flopped back down on his bed. A few seconds later, Cecilia sat down next to him.

"You know, Ichika, if you want, I could give you a...a back rub. If you want. You know, like you gave me at the spring. It might help. If you want." She was trying very had not to make eye contact.

"Sure, that sounds great." Ichika replied sitting up.

"Really!"

"Sure. Here, sit behind me and I'll tell you where to rub." Cecilia jumped behind him and placed her hands on his back.

"Now, start by applying even pressure to both sides to the top of the triceps in even circular motions."

"Right." As she did, she noticed that Ichika's back was rather tuff, but very warm. Her heart started to race a little. After a few minuets, Ichika gave her new instructions.

"Now I take base of your hands, and run them from the middle of the back to the top, while using your thumbs to trace along the spine with even pressure.

"Okay." Now she was able to feel each individual vertebra in his spine. Her heart raced even faster. After a few more minuets, Ichika told he that was good and that she could stop.

"A..are you sure you're feeling better?"

"Yep, much, thanks. You're really good at this," he said swinging his arms around a little. He turned back to Cecilia. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?" She responded quickly.

"Your face is red." Cecilia turned to look in the mirror that was across from her bed. She saw that her face was as red as a cherry. "Why don't you go take a shower and cool off a bit? I can wait to take one later.

"Okay. Thanks." And she rushed into the bathroom.

She stood leaning against the wall with her hands on her chest. She hadn't felt her heart race this much since after she battled him for the first time at the start of last semester. After a few minuets, she took her clothes off, threw them into the hamper, and got into the shower.

After getting out and drying off, she slipped on the frilly nightgown she had snuck in earlier.

"With this on, Ichika is as good as mine," she said blowing herself a little kiss in the mirror. Since she was going to be rooming with Ichika for the time, she planed on making good use of their time alone. She slowly opened the bathroom door, made as innocent a pose as she could, and started talking in her sweetest voice.

"Ichika," she said avoiding eye contact again by looking down slightly, "I was wondering if you would like me to give you another backrub?" Ichika said nothing. "I know you said you were feeling better, but maybe another..." As Cecilia looked up, she saw that Ichika wasn't looking at her. He wasn't looking anywhere for that matter. Ichika had fallen asleep. With all the excitement that had happened the first day back, he easily fell asleep where he was.

"Oh Ichika," Cecilia said as she walked over to him and covered him with a blanket. She then climbed into her own bed, turned off the lights, and went to sleep.

The following morning, Ichika woke up to find he had fallen asleep in his clothes. He got up, took a quick shower, put on his uniform, and went down to eat breakfast. He found that he was one of the last ones to wake up, everyone else had already gotten their food and found a place to sit. Ichika was lucky enough to be able to get through the breakfast line just before it closed. After that, finding a seat was actually easier. He just listened for the loudest part of the dinning room and headed towards it. He found Rin and Cecilia arguing again.

"I'm telling you, I didn't try anything last night. All I did was give him a back rub and he fell asleep."

"Yah, but I bet you had plans for something. I'll even bet you forced that back rub on him."

"I did no such thing. We English are not barbarians. Unlike the Chinese."

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Rin said jumping up.

"Is everything okay?" Ichika said intervening just in time.

"Ichika!?" Rin said turning to look at him and turning a slight shade of rose.

"Oh yes Ichika dear, every things fine," Cecilia said with a slightly smug look on her face. "So how did you sleep last night?"

"I slept fine. Thanks again for that back rub, it helped a lot."

"What!?" everyone said with the same surprised look on their face. Ichika looked a little worried, Cecilia looked pleased. But her victory was short lived, when everyone heard some third years talking a table over.

"How did you find this out?"

"I help file in the offices sometimes. I overheard Orimura Sensei and the Principle talking."

"What did they say?!"

"That there would be a new student transferring in today."

"Did you hear where their from?"

"No, I was asked to deliver some papers before I could hear."

"Awww."

"Excuse me," Laura interrupted, "I couldn't help but overhear. Did you say zere was a new student transferring in?"

The third year turned around in her seat, "Yah. I don't know much about them. When I went back to ask Orimura Sensei about it, she said it didn't concern me and wouldn't say anything more on the matter."

"So Orimura Sensei knows about a new student. I wonder if zey are strong? I'm going to go find out!" And with that, she got up and left without another word.

News of the new student traveled fast. Ichika had only heard about it about an hour ago in breakfast, but now it seamed that everyone in the school knew about it. In between the occasional greetings he got from the girls in the halls, he heard little bits hear and there. Ichika found his classroom and walked in. When he did, he was surprised to find not only Charlotte, Shinonono, and Cecilia in there, but Rin and Laura as well, all huddled around a couple desks.

"Are we all in the same class this time?" Ichika asked as he approached the five of them.

"Niejet, I am in a different class. I just dropped by to relay the information I was able to retrieve from Orimura Sensei," Laura said.

"Well what is it?" Ichika asked.

"All I was able to find out is that she is from America."

"America?!" They all replied.

"Yah," Laura replied.

"Then she could be like a sister to me!" Cecilia said with glee.

"What are you talking about?" Charlotte asked.

"Well, as you all know, America was originally a colony of England."

"Yah, until they got tired of all your rules and revolted," Rin added.

"What was that?!" Cecilia replied, sparks shooting from her eyes at Rin.

"I wonder if she is a model?" Charlotte said.

"Why is that?" Shinonono asked.

"Well, American super models are suppose to be very beautiful correct? So maybe she could give us some beauty tips." She added this last part in a slightly lower voice so only certain ears could hear. Everyone stayed quiet after this, obviously thinking the same thing. Ichika just stood there with a puzzled look on his face. Just then, the bell rang to mark the start of first period.

"Well, I better get to class," Laura said as she started to walkout the door.

"See you for lunch," Ichika shouted after her.

"Oh, good morning Ms. Laura," Yamada Sensei said as they passed in the doorway. "Okay class, please take you seats, I have an announcement to make."

"Your kidding right?" one girl said as she sat down.

"How is it its always the class that I'm in?" another one said.

"What?" Yamada Sensei said looking a little confused.

"The new student everyone's talking about. Their transferring into our class, aren't they."

"Well, it seams the cats out of the bag," Yamada said with a little sigh. "I'm just as puzzled as you all are as to how it is always this class that gets the new students, but we do," she sighed again. "As I'm sure some of you have heard, we have a new student transferring in today from America. So without anymore delay, allow me to introduce our new classmate, Nathan."

The door opened, and in walked a boy. Or someone who looked like a boy. He was easily almost six feet tall, and wore a pair of rimless square glasses perched halfway up his nose. His eyes were a dark hazel color, which almost matched his dark brown hair, which he kept in a pony tail that reached down to his shoulders. He strode in and stood tall in front of the rest of the class. His body was slender and thin like an acrobat, but had a well toned look to it as well. When he spoke, his voice was clear and had no trouble caring through the room.

"My name is Nathan Vanderhill, its very nice to meet you," he said with a small bow. At this moment, all the girls started whispering to themselves.

"Is this a joke?"

"Another man, that's not possible."

"I bet it's another girl, men can't pilot an IS."

"That's what they said about Ichika though."

"Maybe it is possible."

"He is kinda cute."

"He looks like a bishi from a BL manga."

"Your right!"

"Prove it!"

Silence fell as everyone turned to Rin who had jumped out of her seat and was now standing facing the new student.

"Come again," he replied.

"You look like you're a boy."

"I am"

"Prove it." More whispers swept through the girls at this remark.

"Girls, girls," Yamada Sensei said, "is there really any reason to put a new student on the spot like this on their first day?" No one said anything, they were all just staring at the front of the class. Then she noticed that everyone's faces were simultaneously turning a darker and darker shade of red. She then turned to look at Nathan, and saw that he had taken his uniform coat off, and was just about to remove his shirt to revel his chest.

"Nathan there is no need to do that!" Yamada Sensei said as she jumped in front of him. A small sound of disappointment echoed from the room, while Rin slowly sat back in her chair, a little shocked from what she had just seen.

"Please put your clothes back on. There is not need to question weather he is a boy or not. We were a little skeptical at first as well, so we ran a few tests. He is, in fact, a genuine male. Ichika is no longer the only man in the world who can pilot an IS unit." More murmurs ran through the room, as well as some excited remarks as well. Yamada Sensei returned to her desk.

"Nathan is not only a male pilot, but he has also recently become the U.S. representative as well. So please treat him like you would any of your other classmates. Now I'm sure you all have lots of questions for Nathan, but please wait until break to ask them. For the moment Nathan, would you mind taking the empty seat in the back?"

"Not at all," he said with a little smile. As he walked down the isle, he could fell everyone watching him with interest.

"Now that we have that out of the way, let us begin with today's lesson."

The class period moved along as usual. The only difference was the occasional glances made by the girls, followed by them giggling if any of them made eye contact. When the bell rang to mark lunch, there was a loud racket as twenty chairs were all moved at the same time, and twenty girls all swarmed around Nathan and started pelting him with questions.

"Would you like to come eat lunch with me?"

"I can give you a tour of the school if you would like."

"How old are you?"

"Do you have your own IS unit?"

"Why did you decide to come here?"

"How long have you been piloting an IS?" And many more.

Nathan wasn't really able to do much, let alone get a word in edgewise. He actually seamed to be panicking a little. Ichika noticed this and shouted.

"Nathan, quick, over here!" Nathan looked up and saw Ichika in the doorway waving to him. He reacted faster than expected. He quickly jumped up, got onto his desk, and leapt over the large crowd of girls, landing about two feet from where Ichika was.

"Run, I'll follow," was all he could say before the girls stated chasing them. The two of them ran down the halls as fast as they could. They got to the end of the hall, rounded the corner, and were instantly meat with another, smaller, group of girls.

"Look, there he is!" one of them shouted.

"Other way, other way!" Nathan said. The two of them quickly turned around and ran down the other hall. After a few minuets, they were ambushed by another group coming out of the art room, and one more in the stairwell. A few minuets later, the two of them were able to find an empty hallway where they could pause for a minute to catch their breath. Nathan slumped against the wall.

"Their persistent, aren't they," he said between breaths.

"Yah, you get use to it though," Ichika replied.

"How long does this last?"

"About a week."

"Great. Maybe I won't have to attend gym class then." They both laughed at this. After resting, they both got up and started walking towards the dinning hall for lunch.

"You have a really high stamina rate," Nathan said, "It must come in handy in an IS battle."

"Yah, but you seamed pretty good yourself in a sprint."

"Long legs," Nathan said patting his thigh, "not good for much else. I have always wanted a real test of my skills though."

"How?"

"Fight me."

"WHAT!?" A large number of voices coming from behind them made Ichika and Nathan spin around.

"Did you hear that, their going to fight!"

"I can't wait to see this."

"Who do you think will win?"

"Let's ask them!"

Nathan turned to Ichika, "Run?"

"Run."


End file.
